Sept. 19, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State has showcased some serious depth at the wide receiver position
this season, with five different receivers combining for 10-of-14 long yardage pass plays on the year.
Last week, it was junior Chris Godwin's turn as he stepped up to lead the Nittany Lions with seven catches for 117 yards, notching his seventh career 100-yard receiving game.
Godwin highlighted the Temple game with a 52-yard grab in the first quarter to put Penn State on the board early, finishing with three of his seven receptions for at least 16 yards. His seven catches also moved him to 10th all-time on the Penn State career receptions list (112).
Godwin enters the week leading the team with 73.3 yards receiving per game, which ranks 10th in the Big Ten standings. Averaging 6.0 receptions on the year, he's also ranked second in the conference and 30th nationally among DI FBS programs.
Heading into the 2016 campaign, expectations were high for the 1,000-yard receiver, who was named to both the Maxwell Award and Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch Lists prior to the start of the season.
Godwin had been relatively quiet in the first two games totaling 11 catches for 113 yards. Despite opening the year with a 26-yard reception in the first quarter against Kent State to put the Nittany Lions in position for their first touchdown of the year, Godwin is simply among a deep group of talented options.
Last week, wide receivers coach Josh Gattis acknowledged that dealing with six or seven offensive possibilities has meant that he's asked the team to be unselfish in how they approach a newly installed offensive scheme.
A selfless mentality just makes it all the more exciting when No. 12 is called though.
"Anytime you can get in the end zone is a blessing," Godwin said following his team-high performance against Temple. "Just the fact that it was my time was a great feeling. With the offense that we have, anyone can score at any given moment. It's just a matter of being patient, working on technique and waiting for your turn."
New Faces
Head coach James Franklin noted that he was pleased to see different faces making contributions last week. With injuries taking their toll, Penn State saw career-high efforts from linebackers Brandon Smith (eight tackles, 0.5 TFL) and Manny Bowen, who collected his first career sack in the second quarter. Other new faces included defensive end Torrence Brown, who earned his first career start against the Owls and combined with defensive tackle Robert Windsor for a sack in the fourth quarter.
Still Perfect
Penn State place kicker Tyler Davis has not missed either a field goal attempt or a PAT kick this year, extending his career combined total (field goals and PATs) to 35-for-35. Having made two field goals in the win against Temple, Davis is among 18 DI FBS players to have a perfect 1.000 percentage on the year. Davis, who did not play a single snap of football during his high school career, took over place kicking responsibilities late last year.
A few notes on Michigan
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh mentioned earlier this afternoon that Penn State's offense presented an opportunity to change things up, specifically noting that the Nittany Lions have both a very good quarterback and a very good running back.
There's really no question as to who his was referring to, as quarterback Trace McSorley enters the week leading the Big Ten in passing yards. Running back Saquon Barkley also ranks first in the conference in scoring (14.0), having secured the win against the Owls with a career-long 55-yard scoring run.
At 3-0 on the year, Michigan enters the first week of Big Ten play ranked fourth in the AP poll and fifth in the coaches' edition. Among leaders for the Wolverines, Jabril Peppers stands out, having earned Big Ten Special Teams and Co-Defensive Player of the Week awards this week.
"There's not another player like him - I know there's never been another player like him that I've coached," Harbaugh said. "The unique thing about him is all the positions that he can play, if you start counting them it would be safety, corner, nickel, outside linebacker, flat receiver, wildcat quarterback, running back, kick returner, punt returner, hold up - that's 11 or 12 right there and I know there's others he could do and do well."
Penn State travels to Michigan to take on the Wolverines Saturday, Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m. live on ABC.